Tiger Oscar and undergravel filter question

[nbell0530]

I bought a Tiger Oscar a few months ago along with an albino one. The first few weeks they were "attached at the hip," however, after a day at work, I came home and my albino was dead. I went out and bought three more Tiger Oscars and surely, one by one he killed each of them. I have heard he/she needs the opposite sex, although, I am not sure that is the case. I really believe he would kill just about anything. So, I went to the pet store and the clerk suggessted buying a Jack Dempsey. So, I did and immediately after placing the Jack in the same tank as the Oscar, he was attacked (even the Jack is aggressive but he stood no chance). So, I seperated them. Basically, what I am trying to get at is, what should I do? I would hate to have a 70 gallon tank with just ONE small Oscar in it.

The other question I have is regarding my Perfect a Flo undergravel filter. I am using a Tetra Air pump along with Air tubing and air stone. The Perfect a Flo came with some type of tube and I attached the air tubing to the top of those tubes. So, those tubes that came with it are not all the way down in the tank and the bubbles only form within the tube and not along the bottom of the tank. I am not really sure how to explain this.. however, if someone could explain how to get the bubbles to form underneath of the undergravel filter plate, I would greatly appreciate it!



Again, any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[jo3olous]

well, a 70G tank can probably host 2 oscars; it's recommended you hve 50Gs per oscar, but a lot of people bend this rule. Your first oscar seems to have a really nasty personality, it can be a case by case basis with them. Is it a male or a female? Is the 'bully' oscar bigger or smaller than the others? and what's your tank setup as far as decor and stuff.

I think this might work: take the bad oscar out, shuffle your tank a bit then put him back in it. The change of scenery should make him shy because it's no longer 'his' tank. Hope that helps.

 

[DarthPadre]

Are you using a reverse flow UGF? Meaning is water being pushed through the gravel out to the tank? Or is it sucking water through your gravel? If it's being pushed then you will need to make sure the tube going from your air pump is all the way under the UGF plate. Even then the effect isn't that great as bubbles simply spill out of one area. Maybe with a lot of air something cool could happen. If your system is sucking water into the gravel, well I think you can understand why bubbles wouldn't come out from underneith.

 

[Redwood_Rider]

I always re-arrange my cichlid tanks when I am adding new "buddies." This helps a lot because fish are surprisingly territorial and it sounds like this is the case for your Oscar. I would give that a try before you go any further. Or try keeping him in a different tank for a few days while the new fish are in the tank he was in, then introduce him so he becomes the "newbie." Good luck!

As far as your undergravel filter goes, the way they work is that the bubbles are supposed to float from the bottom of the rigid tubing to the top. This creates a slight suction in the tank and the feces and debris are sucked down INTO the gravel. Now, this doesn't actually remove any feces or debris so it MUST be sucked out manually by you using a gravel vacuum. If you do not remove this debris and feces regularly it will build up and create toxic water for your fish. The bubbles should not be coming out from under the plastic grate itself. I hope this helps!